Successful businesses are built on trust relationships. So what if I told you the most effective tool for building customer relationships is not something you purchase on line or go to school for. It’s something you carry with you everywhere you go, whether you use it or not!

It’s your smile!

Now before you discount this entire article, think about the power of your smile. It conveys your attitude, your disposition and your willingness to accept the person you are about to meet. To the person meeting you, it tells them one thing- where is your head today. Are you going to treat me with respect? Are you going to make me feel that my choice to visit your business was a good one?

Customer relationships can form before you open your mouth:

When you meet someone new: a new customer or a visitor to your networking organization, what’s the first thing they encounter? -Your face. What they see on your face tells them loads about you before they even talk to you or hear you speak. Is it right to judge people before you get to know them? No! Here’s reality. The people you encounter will form lots of opinions about you, your business, and anything else associated with the encounter the minute they lay eyes on you.

Your smile is a signal to your customer about the experience they are about to have:

A pleasant facial expression welcomes people. It also lets them know about the mood they are about to experience with you. Have you ever visited a new store because you read or saw something that made you want to check them out only to encounter a surly attendant (possibly the business owner)? Nothing can put a fork in the effort of the business owner to build lasting customer relationships than someone who looks like they would rather be anywhere but standing in front of you.

Building good customer relationships is a simple process:

While this all seems like grade school manners class, it’s actually critical to the impression you leave everyone you meet. How many times have you felt unwelcome because the business owner was less than friendly. If you, as a business owner, regularly encounter customers who come in and leave unexpectedly, are they seeing something you are not? Smiles can say so much more that words. In fact, try adding ‘Hi’; ‘welcome’; or ‘it’s a pleasure to meet you’ to your smile and see how dramatically you change the start of a new relationship!

You can spend all the money you have trying to lure people to your business but if the first encounter they experience lacks a genuine feeling that you’re glad they came to see you, you will have greatly discounted your efforts.

Smiles are free and endless in supply. The trick is knowing that yours is being used. Right now, business is tough for everyone. The easiest way to separate yourself from your competition and build great, lasting customer relationships is to dispense your smile frequently.

If you are smiling at the end of this article, congratulations! Yours is working.

Steve Smith- Business Coach

Steve is a leading expert in business building strategies for small business owners and entrepreneurs with an internationally recognized blog and radio show that he hosts. He has written articles for over a dozen business websites and other on-line resource sites, and has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, OC Talk Radio’s Smart Money and Talent in the Southland. He has established the first on-line business advice service- Need Answers, Ask Steve that offers business owners complementary professional advice on important issues and pending decisions.